Ecuador – Galapagos impressions

The volcanic islands of Galapagos have been discovered in 1535 by fray Tomas de Berlanga who sailed from Panama on a mission to inform the king of Spain about the land conquered from Incas.

They were becalmed and their ship drifted with currents. On March 1st almost at the point of death for lack of water they reached land which is now know as Galápagos.

When pirates discovered these islands some years ago, they saw the giant turtles and realised they could live for almost a year without food and water so they stacked them on the boats and sail away with them to always have a source of fresh meat. This way they killed over 200 thousand giant tortoises.

But don’t worry, the Ecuadorians are working very hard on making sure the species survive and had Reproduction Center built where they were able to help grow the population of tortoises by 5500 strong individuals to date.

I have a hope for these gentle giants also thanks to heroes like Super Diego, who has fathered over 800 babies of his kind. Everybody clap your hands now ;)))

Why we loved it

If you want to see how Earth used to look like before humans got involved, come and have a look. This is a paradise where animals are not afraid of humans, where birds don’t fly away when you approach them, where sea lions play with you in the water, where sharks don’t attack, iguanas ignore you and don’t move even when you are about to step on them. These animals evolved without humans trying to kill them at every step of the way.

Warning: if you don’t like or don’t care about nature, don’t bother spending all this money, go and enjoy them elsewhere.
But if you are interested in life itself, evolution of the species, like nature and animals, this is a place for you!

I don’t know what we loved more, swimming with giant sea turtles, sharks, manta rays or playing with baby sea lions who were following us everywhere while snorkeling.

Or was it seeing monogamous waved albatrosses showing their love and affection to each other OR mating nasca boobies who were giving little presents to each other in the form of feathers, sticks and stones?

Or was it seeing up close the male great frigatebirds who inflate their giant red balloons every time a female passes by? Typical males, absolute squeaky wheels, let me tell you.

I can’t even begin to explain what this trip meant to me and how sad it makes me feel at the same time as without humans this planet would be so much better off.